Emergency-exit-door fastener.



W. H. HART & J. P. HOLTZHOUSER. EMERGENCY EX IT DOOR FASTENER.APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1909.

1,008,463, Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

TED STAS A FFIQE.

WALTER H. HART AND JACOB P. HOLTZHOUSER, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT,ASSIGNORS TO THE STANLEY WORKS, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPO-RATION OF CONNECTICUT.

EMERGENCY-EXIT-DOOR FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

To all whom 'it may concern:

'Be it known that we, WALTER H. HART and JAooB P. I-IoL'rzHoUsER,citizens of the United States, and residents of New Britain, in thecounty of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Emergency-Exit- Door Fasteners, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of our invention is to produce a locking device for a door ofthe character which normally holds the door locked in closed positionand is released when pressure is exerted on the door to allow it toopen.

The device is designed primarily for use in doors of public buildings,such as schools, theaters, etc., where it is desirable to lock a doorbut at the same time make it possible to unlock the door in what mightbe termed an automatic manner in case of any trouble, such as a fire ora panic of any sort.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a general view showing our invention appliedto a door, parts being broken away to show construction. Fig. 2 is asectional view of an enlarged scale taken on the line 22 Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a horizontal sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the locking member. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of theend of a bolt equipped with a roller.

Referring to the drawings a is the door, I) the casing.

1-2 are a pair of bolts mounted in a groove 3 in the front edge of thedoor, these bolts being acted upon by springs 1-5 to normally cause themto extend beyond the upper and lower edges of the door in order to havethem interlock with the locking recessed plates in the casing, one ofwhich is shown at 6 in Fig. 2. The inner ends of the bolts 12 are spacedfrom each other and a locking member 10 is normally pressed forward by aspring 11 so as to lie between the ends of the bolts, as illustrated inFig. 4. This locking member is guided for a sliding movement in a casing15. The casing has an aperture 16 through one side wall and the lockingmember has an aperture 12 which underlies, but is normally out ofalinement, with the aperture 16 through the casing. A plunger 20 havinga head tapered at one side as at 21 projects through pendicular to thesurface thereof, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. hen the door is closedthe springs 45 force the bolts into their seats in the door casing andthe locking 'member 10 is forced forward by the spring 11 between theends of the bolts. This makes it impossible to retract the bolts so asto open the door except by first moving the locking member to the rear.This move ment of the locking member to the rear is accomplished bypressing the plunger 20, which causes it to move transversely of thecasing 15 and the locking member 10, and the tapered wall 21 acting onthe rear wall of the aperture 12 in the locking member withdraws thelocking member from be tween the ends of the bolts. The bolt-s can nowbe retracted and pressure on the door will cause them to be forcedinwardly by the wall of the recesses in the door casing, one of which isindicated at 6 in Fig. 2. Inasmuch as the end of the plunger 20 presentsa very small area against which to press it would be advisable in manyplaces to mount a plate 30 on a hinge joint 31 on the door, this plateoverlying the end of the plunger 20. This plate can be made of any sizedesired and it is indicated clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

If a door is looked closing in a room full of people and for any reasonthere is an attempt at a hasty exit from the room a crowd of peoplejamming against the door will force the plunger 20 in, retracting thelooking member 10, and then the pressure on the door will cause thebolts 12 to be retracted and allow the door to swing open. It will thusbe seen that a lock of this character is valuable as a fire protection.Under ordinary conditions it effectually locks the door but in case ofneed the very act of a crowd pressing against the door will unlock itand cause it to swing open.

In the case of double doors this look can be inserted in the edge ofeach door, or if desired the locking member illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3can be dispensed with and the ordinary lock bolt on one door can bethrown in between the ends of the bolts 12 in the other door to preventtheir opening until this look bolt has been withdrawn by the usual key.Or it would be possible to locate the bolts 12 in the edge of one doorand locate the locking member 10 in the other door.

In cases where there is no door sill and the bolts engage sockets setinto the floor we equip our bolts, at least the lower one, with a roller7 so that the door may swing open freely, the bolt having a rollingcontact on the floor which permits of this and prevents scratching ormarring of the floor.

We are aware that various changes can be made in the construction andmanner of use of this invention and we do not wish to be understood aslimiting ourselves to the exact embodiment illustrated and describedherein.

Ve claim:

1. The combination with a door casing having a socket and a door havinga bore and mounted to swing in said casing, of a bolt secured to saiddoor within said bore and adapted for engagement with said socket, aspring normally holding said bolt in engaging position, said socket andbolt being so formed as to permit of the disengagement of said bolt fromsaid socket un der pressure exerted against said door, a locking membernormally contacting one end of said bolt and holding said bolt inextended position, and a retractor extending through the face of saiddoor and engaging said locking member, said bolt and locking memberbeing movable independently of each other and said retractor beingmovable transversely of said member in the retracting operation.

2. The combination with a door casing having a socket and a door havinga bore and mounted to swing in said casing, of a bolt secured to saiddoor within said bore and adapted for engagement with said socket, aspring normally holding said bolt in engaging position, said socket andbolt being so formed as to permit of the disengagement of said bolt fromsaid socket under pressure exerted against said door, a locking membernormally contacting one end of said boltand holding said bolt inextended position, a retractor extending through the face of said doorand engaging said locking member, said bolt and locking member beingmovable independently of each other, and means for holding said lookingmember and retractor in normal position and said retractor being movabletransversely of said member in the retracting operation.

3. In a device of the character described the combination with the doorhaving its front edge provided with a bore, of a pair of bolts locatedin said bore and means for normally holding said bolts in extendedposition, the inner ends of said bolts being spaced apart, areciprocating locking member mounted in said door, means for holdingsaid locking member in its forward position between the inner ends ofsaid bolt, a plunger extending through the face of said door andengaging said locking mem her, said plunger being movable transverselyof said member to retract it, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the character described the combination with a doorhaving its front edge provided with a bore, of a pair of bolts locatedin said bore and normally held in extended or locking positionprojecting beyond the upper and lower edges of said door, a casingmounted in said door, a locking member mounted to slide in said casing,a spring holding said locking member in its normal forward position inengagement with said bolts to hold them in their locking position, anaperture through the side of said casing, an aperture through the sidewall of said locking member in alinement with the aperture in saidcasing, a plunger for retracting said locking member having a beveledrear edge adapted to pass through the aperture in said casing and engagethe rear wall of the aperture in said locking member, said plunger beingmovable transversely of said casing and locking member and having ashank extending through the face of said door, substantially asdescribed.

WALTER H. HART. JACOB P. HOLTZHOUSER.

Witnesses:

ALBERT L. BROWN, FRANK MARVIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

